


Cibatio

by Go0se



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Familiars, Fluff, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:35:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21837598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Go0se/pseuds/Go0se
Summary: Nott learned a new spell to help with an old, reoccurring problem. Jester was really happy for her.
Relationships: Jester Lavorre & Nott
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	Cibatio

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alpacas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alpacas/gifts).



> 'Cibatio' is the root word of ‘cibation’, which is "[the process of feeding](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cibation) the alchemical crucible with fresh material”. It's the seventh step of alchemy’s Great Work which, completed, was meant to turn lesser minerals into more valuable ones, the most famous example being lead into gold.

Jester made her way down to the kitchen early in the “morning”, keeping her steps light but yawning and stretching expansively. She smiled at how the sleeves of her lacy nightgown dripped dramatically from her arms-- they'd all been on the road for so long, she hadn’t gotten to wear one in _forever_. Now they finally had some time to rest, and _Yasha_ back, and the Xhorhaus to stay in together.  
A whole lot of fucked up shit was still happening, but the group finally felt more right again, and it was almost starting to feel normal. Jester wanted to luxuriate in that normalcy as long as she could. Being able to make a big show of something like early breakfast was nice, even if she was the only one to witness it, and even if the breakfast was just making coffee and taking some of the leftover veggie scramble Cad had cooked yesterday.

She was so enjoying yawning and dragging her feet, Jester almost missed the little bird flying close to the ceiling in the kitchen. Almost.

Jester paused in the doorway, staring up at it, sleepiness forgotten in awe. “Hello!” she called, trying to keep her voice quiet since everyone was still sleeping, pitching her tone up higher at the same time. “How’d you get in here?”  
The bird was small and quick, and a wonderfully bright yellow that reminded her of buttercream frosting. Instinctively she raised her hand out like a perch, before she realized that a wild bird probably wouldn’t be psyched about that.

To her delighted surprise, it flew right towards her. It landed on her finger and cocked its tiny head. Jester smothered a giggle in case she scared it off and just smiled widely, hiding her fangs. The bird barely weighed more than air. Its little feet scratched a bit, but not enough to hurt.  
When she gently petted along its back, it chirped. She cooed at it in reply.

“Do you like her?” Came Nott’s voice from the table.  
She turned, mid-coo, to see her friend standing on the chair they’d had commissioned for Caduceus. Nott was in her pyjamas, too; a pretty white nightdress with puffed sleeves and bit of a scooped neck. She'd leaned her elbow on the headrest and was watching with a small smile, teeth just snicking the end of her lip.  
Jester gasped. “Is she _yours_?! Is she magic?”  
Nott smile widened, and she snapped her fingers. The bird poofed from Jester’s hand with barely a sparkle, reappeared across the room settling onto her shoulder. “She is,” Nott said, seeming almost embarrassed. "It isn't a big deal, though."  
"Nott! That's so great!"  
Her cheeks got a slightly warmer green as she looked away from Jester’s praise. “It's not really-- Find Familiar's a really simple spell, I just hadn’t taken the time to learn it before.” At what must have been a psychic instruction, her familiar fluttered off to poke around the top of the cabinets.  
Jester made a disagreeing noise in her throat, skirting around the table to stand beside Nott. “I think she’s _really cool,_ ” she stressed, putting her hand on her arm.

  
Nott shrugged again, but didn't move away. They leaned onto each others shoulders and watched the little bird exploring the kitchen.  
“Does she have a name?” Jester asked after a moment.  
“Oh! Yes. I named her Aura. It, uh, it means gold,” Nott explained, “Because the element symbol for gold is ‘Au’, which comes from ‘aurum’. It’s Elvish or something? And the singular of that is 'aura'--, and, you know, she’s so yellow.”  
The talk of elemental symbols went a bit over Jester's head; she'd never liked studying science that much. The name meant gold, that was good enough.“That’s really clever,” Jester said, her smiling blooming happily.  
“Thanks.” Nott preened a bit, wiping her dark green hair from her face. Her tattoo glimmered in the magical lamplight.  
  
Another thought occurred to Jester, and she clapped her hands, delighted again. “Oh! You know what?”  
Nott had flinched at the noise, but caught herself on the chair. " _Agh--_ no, no, I'm fine. What?”  
“Sorry-- her and Sprinkle could be friends," Jester said quickly, patting her friend on the back as she steadied. "And Nugget when he meets her! Maybe her and Frumpkin too-- I don’t think he’d eat her, even though she’s a bird, it doesn’t seem like Frumpkin actually eats anything.”  
“No,” Nott agreed, amusement flickering through her embarrassment. “He definitely doesn't. That’s part of the spell, they're-- they’re not actually animals. They don’t need to eat, or, or sleep, or even breathe really. I think Lebby just asks Frumpkin to purr and all that because it makes him feel better.” Her voice was fond.  
Jester considered that. “It _is_ really cute when Sprinkle falls asleep when I’m holding him,” she said. She scratched the back of her neck lightly, missing the warmth she’d gotten used to from her furred friend. (He was up in the garden, now, under a crook one of the roots made as it grew down through the tower. Jester and Caduceus had made him a little nest of blankets and woodchips there when they’d got home.)  
Nott nodded. Tone turning a little wistful, she said, “Y’know, when I was a child-- back in Felderwin, we didn’t really have pets. My family, I mean. Other people in the village kept barn cats, or, or dogs to go hunting with, and horses and ponies and chickens, but my,” she swallowed. “My parents didn’t really take to it. So. I never got used to have animals around."  
"Until you found us," Jester corrected.  
"Oh, sure. I mean, we’ve had Frumpy, of course, and Sprinkle and Nugget--”  
“And the professor.”  
“Right, and Professor Thaddeus for a whole two days--” Nott grinned as Jester couldn’t suppress a snicker. “--but, you know, I just meant it's... it’s nice to have one who's just mine.”  
Something complicated turned in Jester’s chest, at that. Thinking of growing up without animals, and of Nott's childhood family. She hummed in agreement, though, so her friend wouldn’t think she wasn’t listening.

Apparently completed her cupboard inspections, Aura swooped back down to land on Nott's outstretched palm, and twittered for a moment before Nott lowered her to the edge of the table.  
Watching this, Jester had another idea. “Um, Nott, is she going to stay this colour? I mean, I like yellow a lot,” she added quickly, “But it feels like people would notice a bright yellow bird, you know, especially if you’re trying to be sneaky or something.”  
Nott winced. “I thought about that too.” She scratched at her neck. “No, um, I can change her into a chickadee, or something, if we need to. I actually thought about a squirrel too, maybe-- something that could hold things and pick locks? Just, for now I wanted something-- I thought like this, she was... pretty."  
_Like you_ , Jester wanted to say, but didn't. Nott was shy about how she looked, especially since they'd left Xorhas for so long. While Jester wanted to follow the red-lined urge to find everyone who'd looked at Nott sideways and not leave enough of them to be found, she also _didn't_ want to make it any worse for her friend in the meantime. Which meant not drawing attention to Nott's body. She could only hope that Nott would get some of her confidence back while they stayed in the Dynasty for a while, where she could be... not herself yet, but how she was right now, without hiding.  
Instead of saying that, or letting anything she'd been thinking show on her face, she just nodded with an encouraging smile.  
Nott was still in the middle of talking, anyway. "I actually, I've only seen this kind of bird once-- she's called a canary, and I saw someone selling canaries in the marketplace we passed when we were going to see your mom.”  
“Oh yeah, man, they have _all kinds_ of things for sale there,” Jester agreed. "Part of the open market bit, I could see from my window, and when I got a bit older I climbed up onto this real flat part of the roof, too, so I could see down from there-- it was _beautiful_." All kinds of tent curtains and string lights in rich colours, and music if she listened hard enough. She’d never seen any birds, but she didn’t doubt that there was a stall that had them. As a little girl she'd thought the market must have one of everything, everything in the whole world.  
Nott nodded. "The handler said that they were lucky. Especially in dark places."  
Jester could get that. Even if the little bird wasn't lucky, something that sounded and looked so cheerful must brighten people's spirits a lot, wherever they were.

  
“... I feel kind of bad, honestly,” Nott confessed, now watching Aura hop around the tabletop with little flitters of wings.  
"What do you mean?" Jester looked at her closely, concerned now.  
Nott's ears drooped, flicking backwards. “Well... I mostly studied the spell to, you know. Have a kind of, of extra layer of protection, out ahead of me so I can look after all of us better,” Nott said. “Just something, someone that could help me check for traps without...” She let the sentence hang.  
“... without drinking.” Jester finished it for her. She was trying hard to keep her face neutral and gentle, but her feelings bubbled up anyway, darker and more complicated than joy, but tinged with gladness still. "Oh, Nott."  
Again, Nott shrugged, but this time she managed to look Jester in the eyes and smile a bit self-deprecatingly. “It’s a step,” was all she said. Then she hurriedly tried to cover it up with, “And it’s not like she actually dies, anyway, she’d just poof-- we always have _way_ more gold than it'd take to summon her back, now, so it's fine.”  
That was true, but Jester’s eyes were tearing up. “Oh, Nott,” she said again, then threw her arms around her and squeezed tightly, making sure not to knock her out of Caduceus' chair.

  
“You’re one of my best friends, and I love you a lot, okay?” She mumbled into Nott's hair.  
Nott's arms had came up around her as a startle reaction, but once they were there she hugged back, careful with her claws on the light fabric of Jester’s nightgown. “I love you too, Jessie.” Her voice was a little bit more crackly than usual, which was okay. " ... best detectives?"  
“Best detectives.” Jester agreed. She held back a sniffle. Nott didn't need her crying all over her, especially so early in the day. “And, I just wanted to say too, you know, since we didn’t get a chance coming back from Zadash," she said, taking a large breath. "I’m proud of you, Nott. I know nothing's been easy lately, like rescuing Yasha, or going through the Happy Fun Ball, or any of it, but I’ve noticed you drinking a bit less. That's really brave. And I think you’re doing really well.”  
She felt Nott sigh through their hug, so she hugged her tighter, to make her sincerity clear.  
Her friend wheezed and grumbled a bit, but didn’t try to scramble free. Her ears were cautiously perking up again.

That would be the socially appropriate time to let go and step back. Jester didn’t _want to_ , though. Whenever she closed her eyes around Nott lately, she saw Nott swan-diving off the side of a bridge onto that horrible gibbering thing, or Nott's own amber eyes staring unseeingly back at Jester while her head lolled on Caleb’s arm, or the Caedogeist shooting up through the floor and toppling her in barely two stabs. Jester didn't like it. She _hated_ it, technically, so if the safest place for Nott was physically held in her arms and Nott was happy then she could stay there for a little while.  
The house was quiet around them. The city outside too, "daytime" bustle not having started yet. After a moment Jester said softly, “Everyone is going to be so proud of you.”  
“... maybe,” Nott allowed.

  
Then Jester blinked, and her friend had slipped out of her clutches. By the time Jester had turned around she had scrambled up onto the counter and was balanced on her knees, looking through the kettle and teapot cupboard. “Let’s get some caffeine in our bloodstreams already!” She said cheerfully, like throwing off the heaviness of the last few minutes. “You have some honey jars in the haversack still, right?”  
“Sure,” Jester said, pushing herself off the edge of the table to stand, with a fond smile at Nott's back. “I’ll go find it. Hey, if anyone else is awake maybe we can...”

As they made plans for breakfast and the day ahead, Aura flew up from the table to land on Nott’s shoulder, a little drop of sunlight.

  
~

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. I was originally thinking Marigold or something for Aura's name, but then reconsidered because, alchemist, and also the Laura pun. I don't know what the fantasy Latin equivalent would be, but "Elves?" feels a decent starting point. Of all fantasy worldbuilding questions, really.
> 
> 2\. Technically female canaries don’t sing, but maybe on Exandria they do. Alternatively, she’s magic, she can sing if Nott asks her to.  
> Aura would be a fae spirit, reskinned from a raven without the mimicry ability. As a Familiar, she can technically make Investigation checks in 5e! It’d be like Caleb rolling for Frumpkin’s perception except with Intelligence. It’d be a much harder roll with a birb’s intelligence score, which is part of why Nott feels bad-- part of what she's asking Aura to be is, quite literally, a canary in a coal mine.  
> Familiars #lore has a few different interpretations I've seen; the one I like best personally, and have used here, is when they're like an animal companion-- i.e. a conscious living being on their own. They answer the Find spell on their own, and once they do, it functions as a bonding pact between them & their caster that works because both parties want it to work. That also means familiars are intelligent, so Aura and Frumpkin probably talk shit together when everyone's asleep.  
> Fun facts: Nott cares about Aura a lot, though not to the same degree Caleb cares about Frumpkin because no one else can reach that level. She uses Aura to express affection the same way Caleb does, too. Love is stored in the magical bird and/or cat.
> 
> 3\. Who’s Aura vaguing with her tweets? We just don’t know.  
> 4\. The title is meant to fit Aura’s intended purpose, other than being the M9s second (2nd) therapy pet and friend. For comparison, in my drafts I called this ‘Not Too Not(t) Familiar’, due to who I am as a person.
> 
> Thank you for reading.


End file.
